Citrus Marmalade

A thick, bittersweet mixed citrus marmalade made with oranges, lemons, and grapefruit complete lots of ideas on how to use it.

I’m not a Master Gardner, and I haven’t discussed this with friends who are. I’m going on my own observations when I say that fruit production has cycles. A bumper crop seems to be followed by sparse year. I guess it gives the tree a chance to rest, or maybe it has to do with the weather.

This season has been a grand year for our friends’ citrus trees. We were recently the lucky recipients of bags of fresh picked, juicy grapefruit, lemons, and oranges. Thanks Julie and Kevin! Ed and I had a marathon day of zesting and juicing lemons for the freezer. While we were at it, I started searching the Internet for a potential recipe for marmalade. We didn’t have the usual bitter oranges for marmalade, but I thought maybe some combination of the fruit would be tasty.

Apparently, others have thought so too. I found several recipes using our combination of fruit. I ended up using Marisa’s from Food in Jars. The one change I made was adding some pectin. It maybe that I didn’t cook the mixture long enough, maybe my candy thermometer wasn’t working, but it just didn’t thickening up until I added a packet of pectin.

Citrus Marmalade

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• Prep Time: 1 hour
• Cook Time: 1 hour
• Total Time: 2 hours
• Yield: 4 pints

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Description

A bitter sweet spread with all kinds of uses!

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Ingredients

• 2 pink grapefruit
• 3 lemons
• 6 oranges (these were small)
• 6 cups sugar
• 4 cups of reserved poaching liquid
• 1 packet of pectin

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Instructions

1. Wash and dry the fruit
2. Revoe the zest with a vegetable peeler
3. Sticking several slices of zest on top of each other, slice across the zest, making 1/8 to 1/4 inch shreds
4. Put the zest into a pan with 6 cups of water
5. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes
6. Slice the top and bottom off of the fruit and slice off the white pith
7. Carefully slice on either side of the membranes
8. Remove fruit segments
9. Save the membranes and seeds and tie them up in cheesecloth making a little bundle
10. Strain the zest and save the cooking liquid
11. Add the sugar to a Dutch oven add, the fruit segments, 4 cups of the cooking liquid, the cooked zest, and the cheesecloth bundle with the membranes and seeds (for the natural pectin they offer)
12. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer, stirring occasionally
13. Cook until the temperature reaches 220 F
14. While this is cooking, sterilize the jars and lids, by putting them in a large pan, cover with water and bring to a boil, simmer for 10 minutes, remove
15. When the marmalade reaches 220, remove the cheesecloth and stir in the pectin
16. Fill the jars, wipe the rim, add lids (and rings)
17. Place in a water bath (half way up the jars, bring to a gentle simmer, then cool
18. Check to make sure the lids sealed (no movement when you press on the lid) and the lids are tight

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Are are you wondering what you might do with all that marmalade? Here are a few suggestions:

• glaze a cake
• on pancakes or crepes
• a topping for goat cheese and crackers
• a glaze for meat or fish
• a filling for cookies
• stir a spoonful into a cup of hot tea

Do you have anything to add to this list? I’d love to hear your thoughts.

Lois Britton

An accountant by trade and a food blogger since 2009, Lois Britton fell in love with Polish cuisine during the years she lived in Poznań, Poland. As the creator of PolishHousewife.com,  she loves connecting readers with traditional Polish recipes. Lois has a graduate certificate in Food Writing and Photography from the University of South Florida. She is the author of The Polish Housewife Cookbook, available on Amazon and on her website.